http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/mexico Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:59:45 -0400 Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:59:45 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1742/a-state-of-illegitimacy-the-dynamics-of-criminal-and-state-legitimacy-in-mexico By Benjamin J. Mackey - The following paper seeks to elucidate the complex processes involved in the Mexican State’s loss of authority and the subsequent acquisition of this authority by armed criminal groups operating in that country. In theoretical terms, this authority is termed the monopoly on the legitimate use of violence, and its transfer from the State to criminal groups carries profound implications - both quantifiable and otherwise - that are explored here. In order to detail the first half of this process, wherein the Mexican State has lost its authority, this paper presents a framework based on the... Mon, 08 Oct 2018 08:15 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1742/a-state-of-illegitimacy-the-dynamics-of-criminal-and-state-legitimacy-in-mexico http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1726/a-line-in-the-sand-drug-control-along-the-us-mexico-border By Benjamin J. Mackey - This paper analyzes the ongoing drug war being waged between Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs), their rivals, and the U.S./Mexican governments. This analysis is conducted through the lens of drug control; namely, through an examination of the distinct strategies of interdiction and international operations. While both of these strategies carry inherent risks and benefits, the analysis conducted herein indicates that the realm of international operations holds greater potential to directly affect the dynamic environment in which these DTOs thrive. As such, specific international operations... Wed, 31 Jan 2018 08:28 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1726/a-line-in-the-sand-drug-control-along-the-us-mexico-border http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/755/mexican-drug-activity-economic-development-and-unemployment-in-a-rational-choice-framework By David J. Masucci - From his inauguration in 2005 to the end of his presidency in 2012, Mexican President Felipe Calderon presided over one of the most violent periods in his country’s history. Making good on one of his election promises, Calderon unleashed the country’s military against drug trafficking organizations (DTO’s) and other criminal gangs who usurped authority from local governments in the northern and western parts of the country. The result has been a brutal and sustained war between Mexico’s security forces and the drug cartels. U.S. media outlets report daily violence from... Thu, 05 Sep 2013 12:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/755/mexican-drug-activity-economic-development-and-unemployment-in-a-rational-choice-framework http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1621/the-impact-of-the-zapatista-movement-on-womens-rights-in-chiapas-mexico By Gina Weires - This paper seeks to determine the impact the Zapatista Movement had on women's rights in Chiapas, Mexico. I hypothesized that the movement positively, but indirectly, impacted women's rights in Chiapas by causing increased awareness of the issues in the region and influencing various aid and development organizations to begin women's rights work there since the start of the movement in 1994. Twelve non-profit nongovernmental women's aid organizations with no political or religious affiliation were selected for analysis. Using content analysis of the NGOs' websites, each organization was determined... Thu, 31 May 2012 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1621/the-impact-of-the-zapatista-movement-on-womens-rights-in-chiapas-mexico http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1242/deconstructing-the-camarena-affair-and-the-militarized-united-states-mexico-border By Benjamin Schenk - Recently, the state of the United States-Mexico border has assumed primary importance in American domestic politics. And with that, the border has been conflated with notions of security. This paper will investigate the root causes of the border's securitization by grounding the case study of the Camarena Affair within The Copenhagen School's burgeoning constructivist literature on securitization. The paper will conclude by discussing the legislative fallout from the Camarena Affair's legacy, and arguing that the successful linkage between border and security occurred long before the events of... Sun, 15 Apr 2012 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1242/deconstructing-the-camarena-affair-and-the-militarized-united-states-mexico-border http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/30/grassroots-in-san-cristobal-de-las-casas-sna-jtzibajom-and-zapatistas By Ruth E. Dominguez - The group Sna Jtz’Ibajom, or the Writers’ Collective, is a locally based grassroots theatre group that began in 1981 in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. The Writer’s Collective (also known as The Writers’ House) performs and enacts grassroots productions that represent localized, regional traditions and, at the same time, create a sense of community within ritualistic space and practice. When viewed within the sphere of social action, Sna Jtz’Ibajom share common objectives with the Zapatista movement of Chiapas, and within its own history shows... Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:48 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/30/grassroots-in-san-cristobal-de-las-casas-sna-jtzibajom-and-zapatistas http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/27/yo-soy-yo-y-mi-circunstancia-the-socioeconomic-origins-of-machismo-and-the-macho By Scott Berghegger - The simultaneous allure and repulsion of Mexican machismo belies its ambiguous nature as an identifying characteristic of the nation itself and as a phenomenon that some claim is unique to Mexico and others say is endemic throughout patriarchal societies worldwide. Macho behavior is defined as “vulgar language, sadistic insults, the utter degradation of women” (Peña 1991: 31), but a macho can also refer to “a real man, good drinker, lover, singer, fighter, brave and willing to defend what he believes in” (Stevens 1965: 849) and as a man who is “fuerte, feo... Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:21 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/27/yo-soy-yo-y-mi-circunstancia-the-socioeconomic-origins-of-machismo-and-the-macho http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/21/machismo-and-the-reaction-formation-of-the-mexican-man By Scott Berghegger - Américo Paredes, in his 1971 article “The United States, Mexico, and Machismo” (Marcy Steen, trans.), defines the macho as “the superman of the multitude,” a “national type” by which Mexico, as a nation, is often classified (Paredes 215). Through this decidedly folklorist definition, Paredes makes machismo out to be an aspiration handed down from generation to generation of Mexicans in the laments of songs “addressed to a woman who has gone away with another man ‘who is no doubt more of a man than I am’” (215-216). There is no... Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:09 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/21/machismo-and-the-reaction-formation-of-the-mexican-man http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/12/invasion-of-the-invaded-nafta-and-the-rise-of-illegal-immigration By Joshua R. Keefe - On January 1, 1994, the day the North American Free Trade Agreement, the great neoliberal experiment that tested the economic waters of the post-cold war world went into effect, the southern Mexican state of Chiapas was under siege. They came from everywhere and nowhere, wearing ski masks and red, yellow and black bandanas (the colors of the campesinos, or subsistence farmers) and they took the world by surprise. They moved quickly, taking control of six towns, including the traditional capital of Chiapas, San Cristobal de las Casas, using their rag tag array of weapons, an AK-47 there, an old... Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:12 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/12/invasion-of-the-invaded-nafta-and-the-rise-of-illegal-immigration http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1296/country-of-contradictions-mexicos-transition-to-modernity By Lauren Herget - A country’s transition from Cold War-era third-world dependence into competitive, global autonomy is often a difficult and complicated process. Like many other developing nations today, Mexico is meeting its fair share of stumbling blocks on its way to democracy. Mexico’s fissured and conflicted present is thanks to a checkered past, rife with one-party politics and ethically dubious environmental policies. Although inching towards free-market capitalist democracy, Mexico still faces many struggles. But hope still remains for Mexico on the whole: Mexico’s recently elected president... Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1296/country-of-contradictions-mexicos-transition-to-modernity